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Aims & Scope
Tumor Biology is a peer reviewed, international journal providing an open access forum for experimental and clinical cancer research. It covers all aspects of tumor markers, molecular biomarkers, tumor targeting, and mechanisms of tumor development and progression.
Specific topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
• Pathway analyses
• Non-coding RNAs
• Circulating tumor cells
• Liquid biopsies
• Exosomes
• Epigenetics
• Cancer stem cells
• Tumor immunology and immunotherapy
• Tumor microenvironment
• Targeted therapies
• Therapy resistance
• Cancer genetics
• Cancer risk screening.
Studies in other areas of basic, clinical, and translational cancer research are also considered in order to promote connections and discoveries across different disciplines.
The journal publishes original articles, reviews, commentaries, and guidelines on tumor marker use. All submissions are subject to rigorous peer review and are selected on the basis of whether the research is sound and deserves publication.
Tumor Biology is the official journal of the International Society of Oncology and BioMarkers (ISOBM).
Editorial Board
Editor-in-Chief
Magdalena Chechlinska, PhD, Dr Habil
Maria Sklodowska-Curie National Research Institute of Oncology
Warsaw
Poland
E-mail: TumorBiology.Editor@nio.gov.pl
Associate Editors
Changyan Chen
Northeastern University, Boston
USA
Stefan Holdenrieder
University of Bonn, Bonn
Germany
Magdalena Kowalewska
Maria Sklodowska-Curie National Research Institute of Oncology, Warsaw
Poland
Salvatore Piscuoglio
University Hospital Basel, Basel
Switzerland
Marta Sanchez-Carbayo
University of the Basque Country, Leioa
Spain
Editorial Board
Vivian Barak
Hadassah Medical Center, Jerusalem
Israel
Javier Castresana
University of Navarra, Pamplona
Spain
Caroline Chapman
University of Nottingham, Nottingham
United Kingdom
Chi Hin Cho
The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
China
Jose Luis Costa
University of Porto, Porto
Portugal
Elefterious Diamandis
Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto
Canada
Joe Duffy
University College Dublin, Dublin
Ireland
Sten Hammarström
Umeå Universitet, Umeå
Sweden
Kohzoh Imai
The University of Tokyo, Tokyo
Japan
Vathany Kulasingam
University Health Network & University of Toronto, Toronto
Canada
Chien-Feng (Angelo) Li
Chi Mei Medical Center
Taiwan
Leendert H. J. Looijenga
Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology, Utrecht
The Netherlands
Andrea Nicolini
University of Pisa, Pisa
Italy
Barbara Pedley
University College London
London, United Kingdom
Johanna (Hanny) M.A. Pijnenborg
Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen
The Netherlands
Huub van Rossum
The Netherlands Cancer Institute - Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Ulf Hakan Stenman
University of Helsinki, Helsinki
Finland
Iwona Wlodarska
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven
Belgium
Author Guidelines
Tumor Biology, launched in 1980 (formerly published as Oncodevelopmental Biology and Medicine), is a peer reviewed, open access journal publishing experimental and clinical cancer research. Tumor Biology covers all aspects of tumor markers, molecular biomarkers, tumor targeting, and mechanisms of tumor development and progression. Studies in other areas of basic, clinical and translational cancer research are also considered in order to promote connections and discoveries across different disciplines.
The journal publishes original articles, reviews, commentaries and guidelines on tumor marker use. All submissions are subject to rigorous single-blind peer review and are selected on the basis of whether the research is sound and deserves publication.
SUBMISSION OF MANUSCRIPT
By submitting my article to this journal, I agree to the Author Copyright Agreement, the IOS Press Ethics Policy, and the IOS Press Privacy Policy.
Authors are requested to submit their manuscript electronically to the journal’s editorial management system. The manuscript should be uploaded as one file with tables and figures included. Please use the journal's manuscript template.
Important note: The journal does not accept submissions from authors using nondescript, anonymous, email addresses (e.g. yahoo.com, gmail.com, 163.com, rediffmail.com, sina.com, 126.com, hotmail.com, etc.). Institutional email addresses are highly preferred.
Required files
- Cover letter
- Main document (with figures and tables)
- Source files
A .pdf file of the article is required along with the source files of the text, such as MS Word or LaTeX. If using LaTeX, please use the standard article.sty as a style file. LaTeX packages should be compiled into .zip or .rar files.
Open access fee
Tumor Biology is an open access journal.
The APC for this journal is US$1500.
Authors may be eligible for discounts to their APC via open access agreements that Sage has with participating institutions. Discounts depend on the terms of the agreement, find out if your institution is participating by visiting the institutional agreements page at IOS Press. Eligibility is determined by the corresponding author’s affiliation at acceptance matching an agreement.
Your article may be eligible for a full or partial waiver due to our participation in initiatives to increase accessibility to publication across the international academic community. More information about discounts and eligibility.
PREPARATION OF MANUSCRIPTS
Cover Letter
The cover letter is important. To help the Editors in their preliminary evaluation, please indicate why you think the paper is suitable for publication. For original research articles, authors should also use this space to indicate the novelty of their work.
Article Types
Original article
This form of manuscript presents new clinical and experimental findings. Articles should be 2,000–3,000 words long. Authors should therefore consider what data and analyses may be appropriate for supplemental information. There is no limit to the number of references. The article should be structured appropriately, and abstracts should follow the following format: Background, Objective, Methods, Results and Conclusions.
Review article
Tumor Biology accepts comprehensive reviews on topics related to experimental and clinical cancer research, and related topics. Reviews must contain no more than 5,000 words. There is no limit to Figures or references, but authors are advised that the Editorial Board will not accept poorly-focused reviews.
Commentaries
Are opinion pieces that initiate or focus discussion on current and emerging topics related to tumor biology. This article type should propose a valid argument or support a point of view with strong evidence with in limit of 2,000 words.
Organization of the Paper and Style of Presentation
Manuscripts must be written in English. Authors whose native language is not English are advised to consult a professional English language editing service or a native English speaker prior to submission.
Manuscripts should be prepared with wide margins and double spacing throughout, including the abstract, footnotes and references. Every page of the manuscript, including the title page, references, tables, etc., should be numbered. However, in the text no reference should be made to page numbers; if necessary, one may refer to sections. Try to avoid the excessive use of italics and bold face.
Manuscripts should be organized in the following order:
- Title page
- Text body (divided by subheadings)
- Acknowledgements
- Author contributions
- References
- Tables
- Figure captions
- Figures
Headings and subheadings should be numbered and typed on a separate line, without indentation.
SI units should be used, i.e., the units based on the metre, kilogramme, second, etc.
Title Page
The title page should provide the following information:
- Title (should be clear, descriptive and not too long)
- Name(s) of author(s) without abbreviation; please indicate who is the corresponding author. Note that no authors will be added or removed post submission, unless the journal editor and all co-authors are informed and are in agreement to this change.
- Full affiliation(s)
- Present address of author(s), if different from affiliation
- Complete address of the corresponding author, including tel. no., fax no., e-mail address and ORCID ID
- Abstract
- Keywords.
Authorship
IOS Press has adopted Sage’s Authorship Policy. Please go to: Authorship guidelines | SAGE Publications Ltd for details.
Abstract
The abstract should be clear, descriptive, self-explanatory and not longer than 200 words, it should also be suitable for publication in abstracting services.
The abstract for research papers should follow the “structured abstract” format. Section labels should be in bold uppercase letters followed by a colon, and each section will begin on a new line.
BACKGROUND:
OBJECTIVE:
METHODS:
RESULTS:
CONCLUSIONS:
Materials and methods
Experimental subjects
IOS Press has adopted Sage’s Publication ethics policies. Please go to:
Publication ethics and research integrity: policy guidelines for authors | SAGE Publications Ltd for details.
Acknowledgments
This section should contain all acknowledgments, including any funding source to the research.
Author contributions
For every author, his or her contribution to the manuscript needs to be provided using the following categories:
CONCEPTION:
DATA CURATION:
ANALYSIS OF DATA:
PREPARATION OF THE MANUSCRIPT:
REVISION FOR IMPORTANT INTELLECTUAL CONTENT:
SUPERVISION:
Conflict of interest
Tumor Biology requires authors to declare all conflicts of interest, financial or otherwise, independent of relevance to the particular manuscript. All authors must separately be named in the Conflict of interest statement. If an author has no conflict of interest to declare, include this section with the statement “(Name) has no conflict of interest to report”. (Co-)Authors who are members of the Editorial Board should disclose this information in this section.
References
Authors are requested to use the Vancouver citation style. All publications cited in the text should be presented in a list of references at the end of the manuscript. List the references in the order in which they appear in the text. If an article has a DOI, this should be provided after the page number details. The number is added after the letters 'doi'. The following are examples of correct citations in the Vancouver citation style:
[1] Rose ME, Huerbin MB, Melick J, Marion DW, Palmer AM, Schiding JK, et al. Regulation of interstitial excitatory amino acid concentrations after cortical contusion injury. Brain Res. 2002; 935(1-2): 40-6. doi: 10.1016/s0006-8993(02)02445-9
[2] Murray PR, Rosenthal KS, Kobayashi GS, Pfaller MA. Medical microbiology. 4th ed. St. Louis: Mosby; 2002.
[3] Berkow R, Fletcher AJ, editors. The Merck manual of diagnosis and therapy. 16th ed. Rahway (NJ): Merck Research Laboratories; 1992.
[4] Meltzer PS, Kallioniemi A, Trent JM. Chromosome alterations in human solid tumors. In: Vogelstein B, Kinzler KW, editors. The genetic basis of human cancer. New York: McGrawHill; 2002. p. 93113.
[5] Canadian Cancer Society [homepage on the Internet]. Toronto: The Society; 2006 [updated 2006 May 12; cited 2006 Oct 17]. Available from: www.cancer.ca/.
Footnotes
Footnotes should only be used if absolutely essential. In most cases it is possible to incorporate the information in the text.
If used, they should be numbered in the text, indicated by superscript numbers and kept as short as possible.
Tables
Number as Table 1, Table 2 etc., and refer to all of them in the text.
Each table should be provided on a separate page of the manuscript. Tables should not be included in the text.
Each table should have a brief and self-explanatory title.
Column headings should be brief, but sufficiently explanatory. Standard abbreviations of units of measurement should be added between parentheses.
Vertical lines should not be used to separate columns. Leave some extra space between the columns instead.
Any explanations essential to the understanding of the table should be given in footnotes at the bottom of the table.
Figures
Number figures as Fig. 1, Fig. 2, etc. and refer to all of them in the text.
Each figure should be provided on a separate sheet. Figures should not be included in the text.
For the file formats of the figures please take the following into account:
- Line art should be have a minimum resolution of 600 dpi, save as EPS or TIFF
- Grayscales (incl. photos) should have a minimum resolution of 300 dpi (no lettering), or 500 dpi (when there is lettering); save as tiff
- Do not save figures as JPEG, this format may lose information in the process
- Do not use figures taken from the Internet, the resolution will be too low
- Figures should be designed with the format of the page of the journal in mind. They should be of such a size as to allow a reduction of 50%.
On maps and other figures where a scale is needed, use bar scales rather than numerical ones, i.e., do not use scales of the type 1:10,000. This avoids problems if the figures need to be reduced.
Each figure should have a self-explanatory caption. The captions to all figures should be typed on a separate sheet of the manuscript.
Photographs are only acceptable if they have good contrast and intensity.
COPYRIGHT
Copyright of your article
Authors submitting a manuscript do so on the understanding that they have read and agreed to the terms of the IOS Press Author Copyright Agreement.
Article sharing
IOS Press adopted Sage’s Article Sharing Policy from 8th of July 2024.
Please go to: Sage’s Author Archiving and Re-Use Guidelines | SAGE Publications Ltd for details. If your manuscript was submitted prior to 8th of July 2024, please contact editorial@iospress.nl with details of your enquiry.
PROOFS
The corresponding author will be sent a PDF proof and is asked to check this proof carefully (the publisher will execute a cursory check only). Please be sure to return your corrections as quickly as possible to ensure a timely publication date. Corrections other than typesetter's errors should be avoided, so please make sure when you submit your final revised paper to the editorial office that it is proofread and final. Costs arising from excessive corrections will be charged to the authors. Once the author’s corrections or approval to the proof are received, the article is published in final form into the journal’s running volume. After final publication corrections will no longer be able to be made. If a significant error is discovered after publication, the only option is to publish a separate Erratum, the production of which must first be evaluated by the publisher (editorial@iospress.com).
PURCHASES
Complimentary Copy
The corresponding author of a contribution to this journal will receive a pdf copy of their published article on release.
How to Order Reprints, a PDF File, Journals, or IOS Press Books
Please contact the publisher for a quotation: editorial@iospress.nl.
An author is entitled to 25% discount on IOS Press books. See Author's discount (25%) on all IOS Press book publications.
KUDOS
Authors of published articles (non-prepress, final articles) will be contacted by Kudos. Kudos is a service that helps researchers maximize the impact and visibility of their research. It allows authors to enrich their articles with lay metadata, add links to related materials and promote their articles through the Kudos system to a wider public. Authors will receive no more than three emails: one invitation and a maximum of two reminders to register for the service and link the published article to their profile. Using and registering for Kudos remains entirely optional. For more information, please have a look at our authors section.
HOW TO PROMOTE YOUR WORK
Would you like some pointers on how to help your research achieve a wider reach and greater impact? Please consult our Promotional Toolkit for Authors for tips.
Please visit the IOS Press Authors page for further information.
Abstracted/Indexed in
Cabell's Guide or Directory
Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)
MEDLINE
ProQuest
PubMed
Scopus
Peer Review Policy
Tumor Biology is a peer-reviewed journal. Articles submitted to the journal undergo a single blind peer review process. This means that the identity of the authors is known to the reviewers but the identity of the reviewers is not communicated to the authors. Please visit our reviewer guidelines for further information about how to conduct a review.
After automatic plagiarism screening through iThenticate, all submitted manuscripts are subjected to initial appraisal by the Editor-in-Chief and, if found suitable for further consideration, to rigorous peer review by independent, anonymous expert referees. Reasons to reject a paper in the pre-screening process could for example be that the work does not fall within the aims and scope, the writing is of poor quality, the instructions to authors were not followed or the presented work is not novel.
Papers deemed suitable to be reviewed will be assigned to a handling editor. The handling editor will then invite reviewers to comment on the work. Editors and reviewers are asked to excuse themselves from reviewing a submission if a conflict makes them unable to make an impartial scientific judgment or evaluation. Conflicts of interest include but are not limited to: collaboration with the authors in the past three years; any professional or financial affiliations that may be perceived as a conflict of interest; a history of personal differences with the author(s).
As a standard policy, decisions are based on two reviews. The Editor-in-Chief strives to ensure a typical turnaround time of 3 months.
Reviewers are asked to judge a paper on at least:
- Significance to field
- Relevance to journal
- Methodology
- Data analysis
- Literature review
- Writing style/clarity
Based on the received reviews the handling editor will propose to the Editor-in-Chief a recommendation:
- Accept
- Minor revisions required
- Major revisions required
- Reject
They mean the following:
- The manuscript is suitable for publication, thus no further reviews are requested.
- The authors are required to make moderate changes to their manuscript. The manuscript becomes acceptable for publication if the changes proposed by the reviewers and editors have been addressed satisfactorily. The revised manuscript will be examined by the Editor-in-Chief and possibly sent back to all (or a selection of) reviewers for a second round of reviews. Authors are requested to provide a letter to the reviewers detailing the improvements made for the resubmission.
- The manuscript cannot be accepted for publication in its current form. However, a major revision addressing all issues raised by the reviewers may be acceptable for publication. The revised manuscript will undergo a full second round of review. Authors are requested to provide a letter to the reviewers detailing the improvements made for the resubmission.
- The manuscript is rejected as it is deemed to be out of scope, not relevant, or not meeting the journal’s quality standards in terms of significance, novelty, and/or presentation.
Authors are notified by the Editor-in-Chief, whose decision is final.
New from 2021: Tumor Biology is published by IOS Press as of January 1, 2021 onwards. The first articles were published in April 2021. The journal is published in association with the International Society of Oncology and BioMarkers. Content is published in this open access journal on a rolling basis, in one volume and issue per year.
Recent back issues: All content in Volumes 39 to 42 can be accessed via the Sage journal platform here.
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This journal supports IOS Press' actions relating to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and commits to the Diversity and Inclusion Statement.
More information will be available in due course. Check the SDGs page for updates.
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